OPINION

Clueless 'teachers'

Re: "New minister sets five-year timeline to fix teacher crisis", (BP, Dec 21).

Newly appointed education minister Teerakiet Jaroensettasin said he will improve the education problem within five years. He said he would keep the policies of his former colleagues, only make them better. It is precisely the policies of his predecessors that have been the cause for the poor education results, due to low and almost non-existent educational standards.

So, Khun Teerakiet, instead of saying, you'll make the policies of your former colleagues better, I'd substitute "better" for "worse", or, maintaining the status quo. Incidentally, you failed to mention how you will make things better. But I doubt you really have a clue yourself.

Re: "Mor Nim gets bail in Jakkrit murder case", (BP, Dec 21).

I'll never get over the fact that a person in Thailand sentenced to death for murder is released on bail as is the case of Mor Nim who was found guilty of the murder of her husband.

From the minute the sentence has been passed, that person has been found guilty of the crime of which they are accused -- in this case murder. Why they should be released because they want to appeal against either the conviction or sentence, is beyond me. But then, I'm not Thai.

Re: "Can't believe it, True!", (PostBag, Dec 20).

I made the same complaint several years ago and received the same standard off-the shelf reply. Now the situation is far worse. The repeats have increased in volume by a large margin and they are not repeated at different times as claimed but mostly at the same time as the original broadcast.

This is totally unacceptable and I am seriously considering changing to another TV provider.

Letters (even registered post) are completely ignored or even on rare occasions referred to the help department which is useless -- they don't seem to even read the complaints correctly before sending one of the above-mentioned replies.

Re: "Can't believe it, True!", (PostBag, Dec 20).

I, like many readers and subscribers to True Visions, am fed up with the reduction in TV channels.

Again we are advised more channels are being lost due to the providers' withdrawal without other reason or channel substitution provided. It was bad enough to loose some news channels.

As the previous writer yesterday suggested it would be good to have some discount against the high subscription costs of True Visions.

Re: "Raising the bar", (PostBag, Dec 21)

While I agree wholeheartedly with the gist of Khun Burin's comments on the Thai education system, I have to point out that Vietnam is long past being "war devastated".

The Vietnam War ended 42 years ago and Vietnam has done a remarkable job in repairing the country in the intervening years.

Referring to it as "war devastated" is akin to making the same comment about Germany in 1987.

Re: "Move with the times", (PostBag, Dec 21).

Prof Robert Exell's article makes interesting reading and good sense, but this is Thailand. Would Thai teachers admit to not knowing what they were doing and be prepared to study with their students? Sadly, I think "loss of face" may be the answer.

Re: "Regulator takes temple TV off air", (BP, Dec 8).

It is unbelievable that in Thailand today, a new Buddhist sect using the name of Lord Buddha is teaching Thais to seek the highest level of inner peace (Nirvana) by paying a lot of money to the sect leader.

This monk leader is living like a prince in his temple. Everything about this monk's teachings is exactly the opposite to that of Buddha's.

Hence, this is a matter that involves both national security and the nation's faith in Buddhism.

There should be no more compromising with this imposter.